Jack Del Rio resigns as senior adviser in Wisconsin after being arrested for drunk driving

Former NFL coach Jack Del Rio will step down from his role as senior adviser to Wisconsin’s football program, coach Luke Fickell said, after Del Rio was arrested Friday on a first-offense DUI charge.

“He will move on and resign and move on,” Fickell said in a news conference Monday. “But it is a difficult situation, decisions for which we must all be able to take full responsibility. So that’s what Jack is going to do and we’re going to keep moving forward.”

Del Rio, 61, admitted to driving a vehicle in Madison early Friday morning around 12:30 that hit a street sign, broke through a fence and stopped in a yard, according to a Madison (Wis.) police incident report .) emerges. According to the report, witnesses directed officers to Del Rio leaving the area and showing signs of impairment.

No injuries were reported. Del Rio was “released to a responsible party,” according to the incident report.

Wisconsin said in a statement Monday: “We take such matters very seriously and continue to gather information.”

Fickell, who has led Wisconsin to a 5-4 record this season, said the program doesn’t want “any distraction from the task at hand.”

“We still have a few weeks left in the season, there’s a lot of things we have to keep fighting for and no one wants to take that away from us, whether it’s me or Jack or anyone in our football program,” Fickell said. “We’re going to move on from that.”

Del Rio joined the Badgers’ staff prior to the 2024 season after being fired from his role as defensive coordinator with the Washington Commanders in November 2023. He previously spent over a decade as an NFL head coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Oakland Raiders. Compiling a 93-94 dataset. He also coached with the Denver Broncos, Carolina Panthers, Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints.

Del Rio, a former standout linebacker at USC, played 11 seasons in the NFL and made the 1994 Pro Bowl.

(Photo: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)